Pollara is located in Salina, an island in the Aeolian Archipelago, in Sicily.
Pollara millions of years ago it was a crater of a volcano, which collapsed due to an earthquake perfectly cutting the crater in two, where one part sank leaving only one rock visible in the middle of the sea called by the islanders ‘Il Faraglione’ and creates a high and very fascinating coast.
In Sicilian this is ‘il perciato’ and is said to be a ‘thing that is pierced from side to side by a forum’. The adjective comes from the verb perciare, which means both ‘to pier’ and ‘to cross’. In fact, the perciato is a natural inlet with a hole in the center.
At one time there was a beach of pebbles mixed with gravel which but unfortunately, over the years, has been eroded by the sea, instead ‘the balate’ have remained. These are the ancient fishermen’s houses, carved into the rock and connected to each other by steep stairs and now used as warehouses.
The watchtower called ‘the Pollara traffic light’ is located in the upper area of the town from which you can see a breathtaking sunset. This castle was a military base in the First and Second World Wars as it exploits its very high position. There are many stories of the islanders who talk about the fact that he is haunted by a nun who wakes up when the sunset is over.
